The lunch break was brought forward by an hour to give teams more track time during the afternoon, when the rain ceased and slicks were able to be used.

Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes, while Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari but endured a difficult day as he twice stopped out on track. A mechanical failure left him on the side lines for around six hours, while he ended his day in the gravel after completing just 21 laps.

Jean-Éric Vergne twice stopped out on track during the morning session but recovered in the afternoon to go fifth, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg and Williams racer Felipe Massa.

Jenson Button was eighth, while Kamui Kobayashi finished in ninth but his day came to a premature end when he stopped on track during the final hours, while Sébastien Buemi encountered a problem with his RB10 and also had his day ended early.